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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2011Geno AuriemmaStefanie DolsonKelly FarisMaya MooreHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT CONNECTICUT – 75 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with Coach Auriemma. An opening statement and then some questions. COACH AURIEMMA: We really talked about how yesterday there were two distinct teams that played. We played one way in the first half, and we played a completely different way in the second half. Usually when that happens you just have to look at whether or not mentally we're in the same place, whether our energy level is there. This time of the year that is kind of the difference between winning and losing. And today I thought it was there from the opening tap, pretty much to the end. We just looked like a different team than we did in that second half. We moved better, we were more patient at times, we were more aggressive at times. Except for a couple of possessions, it never seemed like we were rushed or in a hurry. Our defense allowed us to do what we did. I'm glad that it was everybody, that everybody got involved. That it wasn't just Maya having to get 40 and the rest of us stand around and watch. I'm glad everybody got involved and everybody played well. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Maya, you seemed more aggressive from the start tonight than yesterday and got off with a good 7 points in the first four minutes and surpassed yesterday. Were you constantly trying to get more involved quicker? MAYA MOORE: I think so. I just wanted to run hard in transition, get inside, establish our inside game. I have to do a better job of being more of a presence inside. And that opens things up for us on the perimeter like gets us to the free-throw line and helps us get into a rhythm if I can establish myself inside. So my teammates do a great job of finding me, and Stefanie did a great job of screening for me as well. So that was definitely a focus. Q. Can you talk about getting your shot back tonight? KELLY FARIS: Yeah, it's been a while. It actually felt good to knock some shots in. Kind of going off what Maya said, we were getting the ball inside and out. That spreads out their defense and opens you their perimeter. So my teammates did a good job of finding me as well on the outside. Q. You haven't had a lot of games where you scored less than 10. I think five in your career. What do you like after those games when you have a game like that? Does it bother you? Do you have trouble sleeping at night? And what happened to your chin? MAYA MOORE: Just kind of got physical a little bit. When we were having a practice, I kind of banged into one of my teammates. Yeah, so it's just a little boo boo. Nothing serious. I slept last night. I was tired. But it definitely does bother me. It's not necessarily the stats, it's just the way I played and overall the way our team played. It bothers me greatly because that's how we determine whether it's a good game or a bad game, not just on the scoreboard. You guys know that just from knowing how we are. I think it was -- we took advantage of it though. We didn't make that game yesterday for nothing. I try not to make it for nothing by responding the way we did. So I think we saw a big difference between yesterday's focus and today's focus, even though we played two very physical teams. Q. Stefanie, given your size advantage, were you surprised that Rutgers, apparently part of their strategy was to go inside and try to score over you? STEFANIE DOLSON: I wouldn't say surprised. We knew they'd come out being extremely aggressive. You know, they have two big posts in there. A lot of teams think that they can beat me with their quickness. But I think I've gotten a lot better on my defense, and just working on that, staying straight up and not fouling. So I wouldn't say I was surprised. Q. Maya, you had 23 assists on 25 baskets. You don't do that very often, particularly not against Rutgers in the Big East semifinals. Is that just an indication of the zone you're in moving without the ball and passing? MAYA MOORE: Yeah, I thought we had a good feel for each other today, just getting out in transition. I think Kelly did a great job of being in just the perfect spot first for the pass whether it's me driving and kicking it for a three for her, or Tiffany finding her inside. She did a really good job of moving inside, outside which makes it tough. So when we have players like Kelly moving well like that, Michala gave a great pass to Stefanie, and we were just clicking. All the practice that we do, how much time we've just been working on our offense. It's starting to click in. It's so fun that we can play that way, especially against a team that is usually pretty good at getting the other team out of their offensive rhythm. Q. You had a great offensive game. But can you talk a little bit about the defense you played on Sykes and on Rushdan that perhaps gets lost a little bit? KELLY FARIS: Yeah, coming into the game I knew that April was under -- she is their best three-point shooter. I remembered the last game we got beat on too many open shots, too many open threes. That was something that we stressed coming into the game. So defensively as a whole I know we took a lot of pride in it, and personally I do. So they're going to get an open and they're good at hitting those threes, some of their players are. It's one of those things that we stress, like I said. That was one of our main goals coming into the game. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. Can you just address 23 assists on 25 turnovers, particularly against a team as good as Rutgers? COACH AURIEMMA: I think probably my answer is when we're generating some movement and the ball's moving, that's kind of how we play. You know, that's the way we've always played. Whether it's Rutgers or anybody else, I think you have to sometimes be a little more patient. We were patient when we needed to be. Sometimes you have to be a little more aggressive, and we were aggressive when we needed to be. So we had a pretty good rhythm going. Once we got into that nice tempo, and we have unselfish players that are pretty good passers. So you get nights like this. Q. What did it say about Stefanie that they couldn't get by her? COACH AURIEMMA: Well, they were catching the ball in Hartford, and when Stefanie was playing them from East Hartford. So she wasn't close enough to them to have them go by her, which was part of the plan. If Stefanie can play good position defense and she can get to the spot where she needs to be, most of the time she's going to do a really good job with that. As the year has gone on, she's gotten much more aware and more anticipating where her man is going and, you know, she's not the greatest -- if you're not blessed with the greatest quickness in the world, knowing where you need to be and how to get there quicker, and that's what's been the difference in this last month, month and a half. She's gotten a little more aggressive, and she's gotten way smarter. Q. Couple months ago we were sitting there and you were talking about inverting Lorin and Stefanie on the end, because Lorin at 5'5" was out rebounding them considerably? COACH AURIEMMA: She was. Q. Can you talk about the evolution of Stefanie as a rebounder, and the approach she's taking and the foot work? What's making her so much better? COACH AURIEMMA: When you're a freshman, and you're not quite sure what to do, it takes you a while to get out of high school mode. So, November/December, lot of silly fouls, lot of late to where she's supposed to be. People are being very physical with her and knocking her off her spots that she wanted to be in. You know, and actually started to work much harder in practice and push herself a little bit harder, and expect more of herself in practice. She's gotten more confident, and her confidence shows on the floor. You can't ever understatement what it means to be a good player. I would have to say she's at her peak right now confidence-wise. Q. Two things, first, how much easier is the game when Maya comes out and plays the way she does in the first four or five minutes. You can see she's getting off. And secondly, do you think enough people appreciate all the other things she does? Everyone sees the points she scores, but the rebounding, the defense, the tip-in passes, the things she does that make her a great player? COACH AURIEMMA: Yeah, I think people sometimes focus on the win, the shots going in. That's never an indicator of how well somebody plays. However, when Maya's making shots, invariably she's doing 15 other things out on the floor. What happens is you just feel like you're being overwhelmed by her. It's a three, it's a post-up, it's a jumpshot, it's a steal in transition, it's an offensive rebound. It's just coming at the other team from so many angles that it almost looks like there's three or four of her out there. You're right. That's what makes her so good is when she's scoring, it's impossible to figure it out what to do with her. Even last night when she couldn't get anything to drop, she still got 13 rebounds. You know, she's going to find something to do to help you win the game. Most nights it's everything, some nights it's just a couple things. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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